Television cameras splashed 31 hours of race coverage into 175 countries, amounting to one long commercial promoting Colorado, an impact that eclipses single-day spectator spending at hotels and restaurants.

Still, both Durango and Boulder passed on hosting gigs for the Aug. 19-25 race next year.

Durango City Manager Ron LeBlanc said it was "a business decision." Durango budgeted $560,000 for the race - including $300,000 in sponsorship support, but not including wages for 620 police and security personnel. Yet the city saw less than half of the expected crowds for the start of the weeklong, 683-mile race.

"The incremental impact, with similar costs and resources, would likely be minimal," LeBlanc said. "How many additional countries or potential visitors would we reach? We'd need a similar commitment of resources. We still have T-shirts from this year."

The start of the Pro Challenge is the most expensive stage to host, largely because of hotel rooms and meals the host has to provide for free or at reduced cost. Next is the race finish, which organizers have said will remain in Denver. A time trial is the third priciest, followed by a stage finish and then a stage start.

Boulder, the second busiest day of this year's race, saw 60,000 spectators, including 10,000 gathered on the city's Flagstaff Mountain for the climactic sixth-stage finish. Many cycling fans consider the churning finish up Flagstaff a historic highlight in American stage racing. A report commissioned by the city found those spectators spent $2.4 million.

"Organizers want Boulder to be a part of the race and they want Flagstaff to be a finish, but doing that every year is challenging," said Andrew Shoemaker, co-chair of the city's local organizing committee. "It was a great day for the City of Boulder. We think it will be easier the next time around and we are focusing on 2014."

Telluride's town council split in a 4-3 vote to submit a bid, with opponents noting the 4,000 spectators fell well below organizer predictions for 20,000.

This year the town thinks preparation for a smaller crowd will free time to work with other hosts on potential marketing deals that could generate a larger impact for the box-canyon resort community.

"It was difficult for us to sell sponsorships or a lot of the packages that were provided because our market is smaller," said Telluride Mayor Stu Fraser. "We are very anxious to do it again. We think we are in a position to create a more positive impact."

Colorado Springs is bidding for a Friday finish, which it hosted this year. The Vail Valley submitted two bids, hoping for a finish at Beaver Creek — like this year — and a time trial up Vail Pass, like 2011.

The Vail Valley Foundation's first hope is for the time trial.

"One of the most important aspects in hosting a race like this is the TV exposure. Essentially you are looking for that commercial about your host city and as long as your city is on camera the longer that commercial is," said Adam Lueck, manager of operations for the foundation. "In last year's time trial, Vail was on camera from the minute the race started to the minute it ended and that's a very important piece for us."